Throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties, 36,000 customers were without power after the winds picked up in the morning, said Southern California Edison spokesman Steve Conroy.

Some saw flickering lights or had their power out for about an hour, Conroy said.

"All wind-related," he said.

According to the The National Weather Service, northeast winds of 30 mph to 40 mph are expected to continue today with gusts up to 70 mph in canyons and the San Gorgonio Pass. The winds are expected to decrease by this afternoon.

The California Highway Patrol issued a blanket wind advisory Friday morning throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties and extended it into Friday night.

Winds are believed to have contributed to a tractor-trailer overturning on the westbound Interstate 210 to the southbound I-15 transition road in Rancho Cucamonga, CHP officials said. The crash temporarily closed the road as crews worked to upright the truck.

Residents in both counties were left in the dark for several hours throughout the day as power poles snapped under the pressure of the strong gusts. Work crews were also busy cleaning up the debris from fallen trees.

Steve Badgett, assistant director of Riverside Public Utilities, said more than 3,000 utility customers temporarily lost power in Riverside.

"At no time did we have more than 100 customers out for more than a few minutes," Badgett said.

With high winds expected to continue in the area, the utility will have emergency staff on call in case of further power disruption.

"We have crews that will be available (today) that we normally don't have," Badgett said.

The most severe outages affected utility customers in the Canyon Crest/University Heights area, where some residents lost power for up to two hours.

In Chino, two men were injured when a brick wall fell at a construction site.

Winds, which were blowing between 30 and 40 mph, could have contributed to the fall. However, that would not be confirmed until Cal-OSHA finished its investigation, according to Tony Landin, a spokesman for the Chino Valley Fire District.

Firefighters went to the 14000 block of Pipeline Avenue about 1:15 p.m. and found a 20-foot brick wall had fallen, he said.

"One was trapped, but rescued prior to our arrival," Landin said.

The man suffered moderate injuries, including a fractured leg, and was flown by helicopter to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Another man suffered minor injuries, but was not trapped by the wall. He was taken to Chino Valley Medical Center, he said.

One of the construction workers said he was "blocking the dust from his eyes when he heard the wall collapse," Landin said.

National Weather service estimated the winds in the San Gorgonio Pass gusted up to 60 mph Friday.

Gusting winds were responsible for a downed power line in northwest Banning, leaving about 200 homes without power Friday afternoon, a city yard spokeswoman said. Workers expected to have power restored to all homes by sundown.

A high-wind advisory was in effect for the Pass area, from Highway 62 to Yucaipa, urging drivers of high-profile vehicles and trailers to exercise caution, said California Highway Patrol officials in Banning.

Staff writers Guy McCarthy, Katie Ismael and Derick Dahilig contributed to this report.

Reach Han Kwak at (909) 782-7567 or hkwak@pe.com